It is well-known to those having ordinary skill in the art that common modular plugs are of the types of U.S. series (e.g. U.S. 4p, U.S. 6p and U.S. 8p etc.), and U.K. series (U.K. 6p etc.), wherein the number of "p" designates the number of conduction pieces which can be installed in a modular plug. For example, a 4p modular plug denotes a modular plug in which four conduction pieces can be installed so as to form electrical conduction between the conduction pieces and a four-line bus.
A conventional modular plug crimp tool is usually a single-purpose one which can be applied to only one type of modular plug. Thus, when we have to perform crimp operations for several types of modular plugs, it will be very inconvenient to use conventional modular plug crimp tools, because several crimp tools will be necessary.
An example for a conventional modular plug crimp tool is shown in FIG. 5. The illustrated modular plug crimp tool 101 is adapted for the crimp operation for a U.S. 4p modular plug 60 and a four-line telephone bus 70. This crimp tool 101 mainly comprises a pair of upper and lower members 102 and 103, with the front ends thereof being pivotably connected to each other by means a pivot pin 106, and with a restoring spring 113 being provided therebetween. A pressing portion 116 and a guide post 115 are integrally formed on and protrude downward from the undersurface of the upper member 102. The guide post 115 in cooperation with a pair of guide holes 114 provided in the upper surface of the lower member 103 for receiving the lower end of the guide post 115 may be used to guide the relative movement of the upper member 102 toward or away from the lower member 103. A receiving groove 104 is formed in the lower member 103 and vertically aligned with the pressing portion 116 of the upper member 102, and opens to one side surface of the lower member 103 to facilitate the insertion of the plug 60 thereinto. A receiving block 105 which is properly configured for receiving the plug 60 is integrally formed within the receiving groove 104. Two through holes 109 and 110 are formed in the top wall of the receiving groove 104 for guiding the vertical movement of a bus pressing block 107 and a conduction piece pressing block 108 which are installed partially through the two through holes 109 and 110, respectively. Both of these two pressing blocks 107 and 108 are supported by a spring 111 secured to the lower member 103 and are vertically aligned with the pressing portion 116. Thus, the pressing block 107 will be pushed downward by the pressing portion 116 when the upper member 102 is moved toward the lower member 103, to force downward a bus pressing piece 63 of the modular plug 60 for securing the bus 70 within the plug 60 by means of an engaging mechanism (not shown) provided in the plug 60, and the pressing block 108 will be pushed downward in a similar manner to force the conduction pieces 62 downward so as to break the insulation coating of the bus 70 and thereby forming electrical conduction between the conduction pieces 62 and the bus 70. Once the downward operating force with respect to the upper member 102 is released, the upper member 102 will restore to its original position under the action of the restoring spring 113 and the two pressing blocks 107 and 108 will also return to their original position under the action of the spring 111 for subsequent use.
As is obvious from the above description, a conventional modular plug such as one shown in FIG. 5 is applicable only to the crimp operation for a single type of modular plug 60 due to the fact that different types of modular plugs have different shapes, sizes and spacing between the bus securing piece and the conduction pieces. Hence, a conventional modular plug is restricted in its use.